I expected to find da sud-island-sudest (southern) heat
but alas i was welcomed by sista rain hersef....
t'was kinda funny and sad at the same time neh!
so me land inna palermo mek it straight to da a friend's house
and he's not there, he no longer lives there
me friend Katie is not answering her fone (found out later that she relocated to padova!)
me other friend who was supposed to host me is outta town
and my other friends (couple) are jus about to hav a baby so it wud be an inconvenience to host me
I mah not feeling da palermo vybz no mo'
so cut long story short me don have nowhere to go
but i had a good mind to prepare two huge paninos/sandwiches
from Anthony B&B befo leaving dat morning
so me head to piazza garibaldi to sit under a tree
[i mah familiar with dis here piazza, we used to sleep on (top) of these trees
(they are huge) with dem mah hippies friends back in da daze]
me munch on mi sandwich clear me head and think of the immediate future
but i was too tired to think, so i ate and actually fell asleep on the park bench deh
i was woken up by rain drops!
whatta way to wake up, me look around there are trees all over
me hav no idea where am i who am i what time/day/year is it
is jus rain drops and they are getting faster and vigorious
me gather mesef up and rush under the nearest tree for cover
that sicilian rain that com in heavy loud drops (jus like dem sicilians)
my cover under the tree was limited but me hung out as long as i could
dodging drops here and there but i still managed to get wet
so eventually i came out of the hiding place and threw mesef into the city
and the rain.......
as i am heading up the road not too sure where i mah heading except forward
one bwoy on a motorino/scooter spots me and slows down and hesitate
i pull him over and ask for a lift (my street wit/cred is slowly coming back to me)
he stops and start chatting, where have yu been, long time no seen blah blah
so the guy knows me but hell i don rememba who where when
this is a common occurrence fo me in palermo
cut long short
bwoy offers me a place to stay
says he just rented a big house for his girlfriend who will only be moving in next month
and if i need a place for a short stay, well the house is free albeit with no electricity
one of those fortuitous coincidences seen
so that is how i came to spend my palermo trip in da enchanted house...
the house is empty its bare and its huge
it really looks to be a family house - once upon time
two bedrooms two bathrooms a lounge
a big kitchen a store room a lobby
it is clean, walls are clean and looks to be recently retouched
the only furniture is a mattress a wardrobe and a divano and the kitchen suite
the matrasse and the wardrobe are in the bedroom with the en-suite bathroom
the divano with springs and no cushions in the living room
the kitchen with its built-in cupboards fridge stove etc etc
and the doors of the cupboards were all always open and empty even the fridge door was open
revealing the barreness state of the house
the two other furnished rooms would be where i wud spend my days
the area is the noisiest i have seen in palermo
its a totally new zone for me, i had never even had designs on this area
and its not far from the hospital/clinic, which means the sound of the ambulance is a common feature
and young bwoys and gyals on motorinos whoozing past non stop
cut story short its a noisiest place - not loud
ca people deh ya talk a lot mo with their gestures and looks
and i notice there were a lot of butcher shops
compared to the usual bakeries/panificio, which were not missing!
'l'angolo del carne, la carneriera, carne carne carne'- meat everywhere
even the one shop specialising in horse meat only...
fo the inhabitants of that area
the whole world starts and ends there in the area
i kno all this ca that is what i wud end up doing the whole time- peeping/gazing from the window
an i was at the corner which meant my view was three dimensional
arabs africans sicilians all battling it out under the economic recession
chinese and indians line up the commercial section
and theres me who has just moved into an empty house with no lights
the consequence being i had to keep all the windows open at all times
to get light in the house, daylight from the sun
night light from the street pole light outside
i was rather conscpicous in the dark, yu kno, shadowy, dats all you cud see, a shadow
then i start wondering about this house
why hasnt the girlfriend started moving in
and why is she supposedly moving in alone not with him
i realise that this bwoy bubbles a lot talks fast and say a lot of things
he has left me there to freshen up and hed be back later
and has left with the keys
i shudder a bit but alas he rocks up and gives me the key and
the freedom to com n go as i please free reign
as i was enjoying the free reign
i notice water on the floor, i thought it was drippin from somewhere
but i cud not figure out from where
and everyday this pool of water slowly grows bigger
i try getting ahold of the guy but alas his fone is always off
and this water which i cud not tell where the f is comin from
i start shuddering again, i wait for daylight to comb thru the house to discover where the water be comin from
but nuttin a gwaan yet the pool is getting larger and larger
everytime i mop the water, it reappears....spoooky
and still the guy is not picking up his fone
i start spending a lot of time outdoors trying to relocate ol an new friends
but alas they are scattered everywhere,
and the fact that tis the rainy season does not make things easier
cos sicily is such an outdoor place, everything happens outdoors
so in a way was forced to spend a lot of time indoors, and that water (which by now i stopped mopping)
the pool is just growing and growing and still cannot detect where it com from
the house is spooky awrite, but i stay on anywhichways...
until t'was time to take leave of the place
and i did graciously...
left a note, the keys, an sms an a likkle present fo the disappeared bwoy...
and jus as i landed in rome, he calls.....[note that mah las sms was to inform him about mah depature!]
i thank him and we small talk a bit
somehow the water thingie did not com up in our small talk...
so i left it like dat....
in ya dis ya time
